


Baby Steps

by realityisoverrated



Series: Infinite Love [150]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, M/M, Polyamory, Polyfidelity, Smoaking billionaires, Toliver, flommy, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 20:58:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13108413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realityisoverrated/pseuds/realityisoverrated
Summary: It's the day before Christmas Eve and the Merlyn-Queen-Smoak household is busy baking cookies and assembling toys for Santa. Prue has a surprise for her parents that reminds them of the reason for the season.





	Baby Steps

**Author's Note:**

> This story depicts a polyamorous relationship between one woman and two men. If this is not something you are interested in, please stop and go no further.
> 
> It's hard to believe that this is the 150th installment. Thank you for taking this journey with me. It has been a lot of fun. 
> 
> This installment is 119/150. The chronological list for the series, with hyperlinks, can be found at http://archiveofourown.org/works/11051019
> 
> If you're new to the series, welcome. The more the merrier.

 

The kitchen of Cobble Hill was filled with sound of Christmas carols and the smell of holiday baking. Tommy, Bobby and Becca sang along with the Christmas playlist as they went about their tasks. Tommy was rolling cookie dough and B2 were sitting at the kitchen table icing cookies with colorful frosting. The twins were on their activity mat – well Prue was on the activity mat. She was happily sitting on the mat playing with a set of soft blocks. Nate had been on the mat, but was currently rolling around the kitchen.

At sixteen months, the twins were finally starting to catch up with their peers. Nate had completely skipped the crawling phase of his development. At ten months, if he wanted to go somewhere he either pulled himself up on the nearest object and cruised his way to his new location, or, if there wasn’t something to pull up on, he’d tuck his arms into his side and roll there. By twelve months, he was walking, but his preferred method of getting around their large kitchen was rolling.

The sound of approaching giggling had Tommy closing the oven quickly. Nate rolled around the counter and came to a stop at Tommy’s feet. He laid on his back, his large eyes blinking owlishly behind his glasses. He smiled up at Tommy. “Hi, dada.”

“Hi, little man,” Tommy bent over and tickled his son’s belly.

Nate giggled before he rolled away.

Tommy set the timer and moved over to the kitchen table to check on the progress of his frosters. Felicity and Oliver were planning on leaving the office early, and once they arrived, his free labor would disappear. He had a long night of frosting ahead of him to be ready for Christmas Eve at Thea’s the next day. “That’s very pretty, Becca,” he kissed the top of his daughter’s head as he admired her work on a ballerina cutout.

“It’s for mommy,” she informed him with a large smile.

“Mommy, will love it,” Tommy replied.

Bobby’s tongue was sticking out of the corner of his mouth and his brow was furrowed in concentration as he iced the drum cutout he held in his hand. He’d already iced the cookie with red frosting and was currently using a toothpick to add white accents to the drum.

“That’s a snazzy looking snare drum,” Tommy complimented his son.

Bobby nodded, but didn’t break his concentration, “Thanks.”

A tug on his pant leg returned Tommy’s focus back to Nate who was now on his feet, “Dada.” Nate made the sign for dance.

Tommy took Nate’s hand and led him back over to where Prue was sitting, “Should we ask your sister to dance?”

Prue smiled up at him from her spot on the floor. She was the opposite of her brother in terms of her physical development. She crawled late, preferring to point at something and send Nate to retrieve the object of her desire. The doctors tried to reassure them that her reluctance to crawl was probably because her sutures had pulled with the motion the first time she tried to crawl. At sixteen months, she still wasn’t walking. Tommy knew from all the child development books he’d read that he didn’t have anything to worry about for another two or three months, but it did worry him, it kept him awake at night. Prue made very few attempts to even stand up. Oliver spent every night doing exercises with Prue to work on her muscle development.

“What do you say, sweet pea?” he asked Prue as he knelt beside her. “Do you want to have a dance party with dada?”

Prue nodded and held out her arms, “Up, dada.”

He took her hands but refused to lift her. She was capable of pulling herself to her feet, “Come on, sweet pea. Stand up.”

Prue gave him a withering look that was so reminiscent of Felicity that he laughed. She used his hands for leverage and pulled herself to her feet.

“Okay, let’s dance,” he told the twins.

Nate bounced up and down, his laughter nearly drowning out the music. Prue held Tommy’s fingers tightly as she twisted from side to side. He had spent eight years running one of the most successful nightclubs in the city, but none of it compared to the kitchen dance parties he had with his children.

Tommy carefully extricated his fingers from Prue’s hands. She instantly stopped moving and looked at him with complete betrayal. She didn’t lose her balance, but she sat down immediately. He held out his hands again, “I’m sorry, sweet pea. Let’s dance.”

Prue pulled herself back to her feet and returned to twisting from side to side. Tommy knew that she was capable of standing on her own and he suspected she’d be able to walk if she tried. He walked backwards on his knees and she moved with him, but her grip on his fingers never slackened.

“Can I dance too, da?” Becca asked.

“It’s a Tommy Merlyn dance party, I insist on it,” Tommy held out a hand to his other daughter.

Becca slid out of her chair and took Tommy’s hand, “Twirl me, da.”

Tommy held Becca’s hand over her head and twirled her. She laughed with delight as her dress billowed around her. When Tommy stopped twirling her, she staggered into his side. Becca flung her arm around Tommy’s neck and kissed his cheek. “I love you, da.”

“I love you too, sweet girl,” Tommy kissed her cheek.

She let go and began to shimmy over to Bobby. “It’s a dance party,” she told Bobby, “you have to dance.”

“I haven’t finished my drum yet,” he told her. “I’ll dance when I’m done.”

Prue tugged on Tommy’s hand and tried to duck her head beneath it.

“Do you want to twirl, sweet pea?” Tommy asked her.

Prue nodded her head. He held her hand up and slowly turned her beneath his hand. She shuffled her feet slowly, but laughed with the same enthusiasm as her big sister. Her eyes shone brightly as she returned to facing Tommy. “More,” she requested with a smile.

Nate tugged on Tommy’s shirt. “Da,” he tapped his own chest.

“Do you want to twirl too?” he asked Nate.

Nate nodded and held out his hand.

Tommy rose to his feet and began to slowly twirl Prue and Nate across the kitchen floor. When Tommy reached the far end of the kitchen with his dance partners, Nate clapped his hands. Prue let go of Tommy’s hand to clap too. He held his breath waiting for his youngest to realize she was standing without any assistance. Prue looked up at Tommy and smiled, “More.”

The timer on the oven sounded. “Let me take the cookies out of the oven and then we’ll twirl.”

“Here Prue,” Bobby took his sister’s hand, “I’ll dance with you.”

Becca took Nate’s hands and the four children began shaking their hips to, _Santa Claus is Coming to Town_. Tommy retrieved the gingerbread men from the oven and began to place them on a rack to cool.

Oliver and Felicity walked into the kitchen, surprising the children. “Are you having a dance party without us?” Felicity asked.

“Mommy. Daddy,” the children cried out together.

“Dance with us,” Becca requested as she and Nate rushed over to Oliver and Felicity.

Bobby let go of Prue’s hand and joined Becca and Nate. He wrapped his arms around Oliver’s waist and stepped onto Oliver’s feet with his bare feet. “Dance with me, daddy.”

Tommy watched Prue, who remained on her feet, watching her siblings and parents. A fierce look of determination crossed her face as she looked at her feet and then back towards Felicity. He slid his cell from his pocket and began to record. Prue took a hesitant step and stopped for a moment before she tottered quickly towards Felicity.

“Momma,” Prue said as she approached.

Felicity knelt on the floor and held her arms wide, “Hi, baby girl.”

Prue fell into Felicity’s arms, “Momma.”

“Look at you go,” Felicity praised Prue as she peppered her face with kisses. Tears fell from her eyes as she held their daughter tight. “Do you want to show daddy?”

Oliver knelt where he stood and held out his arms, “Come give me a hug.”

Felicity steadied Prue on her feet, steered her in the right direction, and let go. Prue toddled straight into Oliver’s arms. He lifted her into the air, “That’s my girl.”

Prue squealed in delight as Oliver tossed her a few inches over his head and caught her. He rubbed his scruff against her cheek and she laughed louder. Oliver returned her to her feet and pointed at Tommy, “Show your dada what you can do.”

Prue frowned at Tommy and sat down. She held her arms out towards him, “Up, dada.”

Tommy laughed, “Is this how things are going to be between us?”

Prue crawled over to him and sat back down. She held her arms towards Tommy, “Up, dada.”

Becca whispered in Felicity’s ear.

“Sweet pea,” Felicity called to Prue. “Can you show your daddy and me how you twirl?”

“I’ll help you, Prue,” Becca offered, holding out her arms.

Prue turned herself and then used her hands to push herself to her feet. She walked towards Becca, her footsteps steadier than her previous successes. When she reached Becca, she held up one hand. Becca took her hand and helped her to twirl.

Felicity clapped her hands, “You’re such a good dancer.”

Nate grabbed Bobby’s hand. He pointed to his twin and then to himself. Bobby began to twirl him.

“You’re a good dancer too,” Felicity praised Nate.

“This is the best Tommy Merlyn dance party, ever,” Oliver declared.

Felicity wrapped her arms around Tommy’s waist, “Way to go dad.”

“She wasn’t walking for me. She wanted to impress you two,” Tommy smiled.

“Well, I’m impressed,” Oliver said as he watched the children dance. He reached around Tommy and snapped the leg off a gingerbread man.

“Hey,” Tommy scolded. He swatted Oliver’s hand with a spatula. “I’m going to be baking and frosting all night.”

“It’s delicious,” Oliver said around a mouthful of cookie. “I’ll help you finish the baking.”

Tommy shook his head and reminded his husband quietly, “You’re going to Thea’s tonight after bedtime. Roy said he would help.” The twins were getting tricycles and Becca was getting a bike with training wheels. Oliver had insisted that he wanted to put the bikes together himself. Oliver was running out of time if Santa was going to leave the bikes as presents under the tree.

“Daddy,” Bobby squeezed between his dads and stepped back onto Oliver’s feet, “dance with me.”

“Okay, monkey,” Oliver said as he took hold of Bobby’s hands and turned them.

“Mommy,” Becca held out her hands, “dance with me.”

Felicity lifted Becca into her arms and spun them towards Oliver.

The twins stood hand in hand in the center of the kitchen watching Oliver and Felicity with B2. Tommy knelt on the floor and opened his arms. “Come dance with dada.”

He held his breath, waiting to see if Prue would walk to him. Hand in hand, Nate and Prue crossed the kitchen to Tommy. He wrapped his arms around them and stood up. He kissed Nate’s cheek and then Prue’s. Every step the twins took in their development filled Tommy with relief, joy and gratitude. There had been a time he feared he’d never see the twins turn one, let alone walk and talk.

Felicity and Oliver gravitated towards Tommy. They formed a circle with their children in the center, as they all continued to dance. “I’d like to go to church tomorrow night,” Tommy told Oliver and Felicity. It had been two years since he’d attended a Christmas Eve service and he longed for the familiar hymns and prayers of his faith. The Church might be through with Tommy, but he still had his faith. His children were a constant reminder of why he believed in miracles.

“We’ll go together,” Felicity said as she twirled Becca.

“I’d like that,” Tommy responded. It was shaping up to be the best Christmas in years.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are always welcomed and appreciated. 
> 
> I will be posting another installment on Christmas Eve.
> 
> Prompts are encouraged.
> 
> You can also come say hi to me on tumblr. I'm always happy to answer questions about this verse or anything else Arrow. http://realityisoverrated-fic.tumblr.com


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